Restructuring a Literature Search Service: Preliminary Data

Background
Literature searches at the authors' library were conducted by one or two librarians until recently, each of whom approached their searches individually. They conducted their searches with little consistency in their approaches or systematic record-keeping. But as requests for searches increased, we made the decision to transform the service so that multiple searchers can participate while producing consistent results. At the 2018 MLA conference, the authors reported on building a literature search service at an academic health sciences library. Here, we describe how it has progressed and what we've learned about the service as we expand data collection. 

Description
An online database was developed with the help of an IT professional for patrons to make requests and for searchers to enter detailed data for each search request. For example, the database collects information on the amount of time spent for each project, nature of the search topic, details of the collaborators involved, co-authorship for the librarian, the status of reports and publications, and payment information for paid searches. The database went live in mid-October 2018 and we can now report with specificity on the search service. 

Conclusion
Since July 2018 and as of early April 2019, the database shows a total of 62 searches, 22 or 35% are for systematic reviews. 61% involved librarian co-authorship and most of these publications were systematic reviews.  Librarian searchers spent 2,241 hours on these searches in the 9 month period. These data are valuable for adapting our literature search service to meet needs of our users and for making appropriate decisions about library service priorities.